Feedback from Chamber Execs That Have Hosted Glenn Shepard Seminars
We struggle to get people to attend our $20 events, and were concerned no one would pay the higher tuition to attend Glenn Shepard’s “How to Supervise People & Lead a Team” seminar. We were wrong. Nearly 100 people, including many members that have never attended a chamber event, turned out. From a local family farm that sent 5, to the large area employer that sent nearly 20, it proved that the problem isn’t money, it’s value. No matter how high or low an event is priced, people won’t attend if they don’t think it’s worth their time. But if they see real value in it, they’ll always find the time and money. This seminar addresses an underserved niche in the chamber industry. We made the right decision in bringing it to our community and will do it again.
Pete Bardunias, IOM
President/CEO
Chamber of Southern Saratoga County
Clifton Park, NY
www.southernsaratoga.org
I always wished I could bring the U.S. Chamber’s IOM program to my community, but know most people couldn’t invest that much time even if I could. Glenn has figured out how to do something even better by bringing this accredited one-day course to town. We were shocked at how many people were willing to pay hundreds of dollars to attend – and we’re a small chamber. A logging company even sent 10 people. Even more amazing was that I have never seen half the members who attended. If your chamber isn’t offering high-level accredited classes like this, you’re missing out on a prime opportunity to serve the people who sign your paycheck.
Melissa Barth, IOM
President/CEO
Spearfish Area Chamber of Commerce
Spearfish, SD
www.spearfishchamber.org
We’ve brought in many speakers in my years as a chamber exec. We even had to fly one in by helicopter during an ice storm. Glenn Shepard is more popular with our members than anyone we’ve ever brought in. When he says his seminar is the #1 rated management training in the country, he’s not exaggerating. It is truly amazing.
George Swift
President/CEO
SWLA Economic Development Alliance
Lake Charles, LA
www.allianceswla.org
We take Servant Leadership very seriously in our chamber, and are very proactive about doing whatever we can do to serve the members who make it possible for us to have this job. This is one reason we’ve brought Glenn’s “How to Supervise People & Lead a Team” workshop to Tupelo three times. We’ve had over 100 people attend two of the three times, ranging from Toyota to small Mom and Pop businesses. This tells me how well this workshop serves a specific need in our business community.
David Rumbarger, CEcD,FM
President/CEO
Community Development Foundation
Tupelo, MS
www.cdfms.org
Glenn’s marketing team works miracles. A major HR outfit in Omaha held a similar seminar on a Wednesday and had 11 attendees. Glenn’s was on Friday and we had 70 attendees. We look forward to working with him and his team again.
Dan Mauk, IOM
President/CEO
North Platte Area Chamber & Development Corporation
North Platte, NE
www.parea.com
We were experiencing mission drift and needed to focus more on helping our member businesses, and less on “pancakes and parades”. Glenn’s management seminar helped us do exactly that. One attendee who manages a dermatology practice that had grown from 1 employee to 24 thanked me for bringing in such high-level training in a one-day seminar instead of her having to take a three-month class at a local college. Another told me how happy she was to be able to get her HRCI credit from the local chamber program instead of having to drive to Lexington or Louisville to keep her PHR license. I HIGHLY recommend this seminar to any Chamber Exec who’s serious about serving their members.
Brad Richardson
President/CEO
Hardin County Chamber of Commerce
Elizabethtown, KY
www.hardinchamber.com
Glenn, I want you to know the feedback we received from our members telling us how much they enjoyed your seminar was over the top. And just like you promised, your staff did 99% of the work. All my staff had to do was take the registrations as people sent them in. In my 30+ years in economic development and chamber work, this was the easiest program I’ve ever been involved with. I wish more people made my job as easy as you do.
Jim Fram, CEcD, CCE, FM
President/CEO
Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce
Hot Springs, AR
www.hotspringschamber.com
I wasn’t sure how our business community would respond since we had not offered programs like this in the past. But did they ever embrace it! The most diverse group of businesses imaginable, from the police and fire departments to banks to funeral homes to contractors to realtors to Habitat for Humanity attended. Glenn is right on the money when he says that every business with employees faces challenges, and all need accredited training like this. Members have already asked my Member Relations Coordinator when we’re bringing him back. And speaking of money, we love that Glenn does all the marketing and pays for everything. We made more money on his event than on many we’ve done on our own. His financial model is EXACTLY what chambers need – financial reward without any risk.
Carter Hendricks, IOM
President/CEO
Christian County Chamber of Commerce
Hopkinsville, KY
www.christiancountychamber.com
Just wanted to let you know that your claim to bring in new chamber members with your seminar works. As soon as the brochures hit the mail boxes, we received a call from an area business that has never been a chamber member. They were interested in the seminar and that opened the door for me to tell them the benefits of belonging to the Greensburg/Decatur County Chamber. Five minutes after they called, I had them saying an enthusiastic “yes” to joining our organization. The amazing part is that it’s an excavating company, one that I may not have targeted as a prospective member. You were right on target about how all businesses have employee challenges, and positioning our chamber as a trusted source to help them solve this problem gives an added reason for businesses to become chamber members.
Jeff Emsweller, IOM
Executive Director
Greensburg/Decatur County Chamber of Commerce
Greensburg, IN
www.greensburgchamber.com
This workshop attracts members that have never attended a chamber event. I’d never seen half the people who attended this seminar, even though they’d been a chamber member for years. To be frank, it surprised me that people would pay this much for a seminar. But people will pay for quality, time and time again.
Dawn Brackette, IOM, CCE
President/CEO
East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce
Slidell, LA
www.estchamber.com
Over 200 people attended Glenn’s “How to Supervise People & Lead a Team” seminar, so we know it met an unmet need. And the attendees LOVED it. The Executive Director of a local nonprofit emailed to thank me for bringing it to Rockford, and said the supervisors she sent called her at the first break and went on and on about how great it was. This kind of enthusiasm is what the chamber industry needs to engage more members.
Einar Forsman
President/CEO
Rockford Chamber of Commerce
Rockford, IL
www.rockfordchamber.com
This was the third time we hosted Glenn’s seminar, and attendance doubled from last time. Even more impressive is that people drove 150 miles from Chattanooga to attend. Glenn really does have raving fans.
Kara Huckaby
Chamber Director
Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance
Columbia, TN
www.mauryalliance.com
I’ve brought in the Glenn Shepard management seminar at chambers in Kentucky and North Carolina, because we see members at it that we never see at any other chamber event.
Elaine Spalding, IOM, CCE
President/CEO
Rowan County Chamber of Commerce
Salisbury, NC
www.rowanchamber.com
I’ve worked with the Glenn Shepard team at chambers in Nebraska and Colorado. Three things I love about working with them: 1. Because it’s accredited by SHRM, this is a higher level of training than most chambers offer. We especially like that companies send their senior management team. 2. My staff loves Glenn because he’s the only corporate trainer that does all of the marketing and fills all the seats for his events. 3. Our members love Glenn and are constantly asking when we’re bringing him back. One of the few events we’ve gotten more requests to do again was when we brought in the band “.38 Special” last year. If you’re looking for that “next big thing” that you can do to impact your local business community, bring in a Glenn Shepard seminar.
Dennis Houston, IOM
President/CEO
Parker Chamber of Commerce
Parker, CO
www.parkerchamber.com
I’ve known Glenn Shepard for many years but only through seeing him once a year at the ACCE conference. I was so impressed with his energy and enthusiasm that I always looked forward to talking to him once a year. I have enjoyed reading his stories and his testimonies from my counterparts around the US over the years. I also very impressed the way he talked about his wife and the love and admiration he had for her. I also was very impressed by the many ways he gave back to the less fortunate. My gut told me he was a really good guy. Plus we both loved County music‼️Finally I thought I’ve got to have him come to Long Beach for a seminar. So based on my gut feeling about this man who I barely knew, I pulled the trigger and had the seminar. I’m so glad I did, as our members just loved him and gave rave reviews. In fact, McDonald’s corporate contacted him after two of their franchisees attended the seminar, to inquire about getting him to speak at their corporate leadership conference. If you are considering asking Glenn to come to your community, I just couldn’t give you a more positive reason to do so. You will not regret it. He is really, really terrific.
Randy Gordon
President/CEO
Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Long Beach, CA
www.lbchamber.com
Businesses from as far as Gillette, Wyoming came to hear Glenn. My members are still raving about him. The only thing better than being able to bring a nationally known speaker like Glenn to our chamber is that it cost us nothing. His staff did all the work, filled the room, and we made us money.
Lisa Langer, IOM
President/CEO
Spearfish Area Chamber of Commerce
Spearfish, SD
www.spearfishchamber.org
The thing we like best about Glenn Shepard’s “How to Supervise People & Lead a Team” workshop is that we have people coming who ‘ve never attended a chamber event. The other interesting thing is that it draws potential new members – people we don’t have a way to reach otherwise.
Lee Lingo, IOM
President/CEO
Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce
Madisonville, KY
www.hopkinschamber.com
The results from the Glenn Shepard management seminar last week were beyond our wildest imagination. We had 68 people in attendance and all were raving about it. Seminars like these not only make us look good to our current chamber members, but several prospective companies also attended and are entertaining the idea of joining our membership.
Amy Looten
Executive Director
Quincy Area Chamber of Commerce
Quincy, IL
www.quincychamber.org
Just wanted to let you know how pleased we were with Glenn’s management seminar. The turnout was so good that we had to move it to a hotel to accommodate everyone. One company even sent 12 managers. This is amazing. Thanks for making this so easy for us.
Julia Donohue
Membership Relations Coordinator
Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
Springfield, IL
www.gscc.org
Glenn’s seminar brought in a whole different group of folks than we see at any other chamber event.
Brad Allamong
President/CEO
Crossville – Cumberland County Chamber
Crossville, TN
www.crossville-chamber.com
This is a different group coming to Glenn’s seminar. They’ve been chamber members forever, but have never attended another chamber event. Not only do they attend, but they bring 7,8 or 9 people from the same company.
Debra Williams, IOM
President/CEO
Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce
Morristown, TN
www.morristownchamber.com
This is a Godsend for chambers. It cost us nothing, took up none of our time, required no work, and we made over $2,000. I’ve been at the chamber for 11 years and have never seen anything like it. It drew people from small businesses to the area’s largest employer.
Peggy Woolridge, IOM
President/CEO Huron Chamber of Commerce
Huron, SD
www.huronsd.com
Just wanted to let you know how pleased we were with the turnout at your seminar. Our members are still raving about it. At first, we were concerned that the tuition might be too high, especially since we’ve held other events where the price was much lower. But you were right when you said that the perceived value of anything is what people pay for it. We actually had higher turnout for this than for other events that were a fraction of the price. We were also surprised to see that even small businesses like Big O Tire sent several people. I can tell that your marketing team really knows what they’re doing. I also think that what we discussed about how the “Out-of -Town Expert” has more credibility than “The Guru Next Door” is true. We’ve had our own members present similar programs before, but none ever drew as well as yours. Thanks for helping us serve our members even better.
Julia Johnson
Vice President
Bedford Chamber of Commerce
Bedford, IN
www.bedfordchamber.com
We decided to focus on quality of events instead of quantity. Glenn’s seminar is a perfect example. We’re a small chamber (400 members), and we’ve had over 100 people attend Glenn’s seminar three of the four times we’ve hosted it.
Carmen Schramm
President/CEO
Yankton Area Chamber of Commerce
Yankton, SD
www.yanktonsd.com
This is the best response we have had for a program this year. Glenn’s team was super easy to work with and that is always a plus. He certainly follows his your own rules – “be low maintenance”! We were so surprised to have at least 20% people register who were non-members.
Shari Lauer
McLean County Chamber of Commerce
Bloomington, IL
www.mcleancochamber.org
One of my Board members told me to contact Glenn and have him come speak to our Chamber members. I had never heard of him, but am so glad that I contacted his organization. This was by far the easiest event I have ever put on, thanks to Glenn and his staff. I had no idea how many people would register for this seminar, and I am simply amazed that we had 96 people in attendance. Thank you again and I look forward to having the opportunity to working with you again.
Beth Sherman
Executive Director
LaGrange County Chamber of Commerce
LaGrange, IN
www.lagrangechamber.org
We are continuously looking for ways to provide “Value Added” benefits to our members. Offering seminars like these not only makes us look good, but when businesses are looking for reasons to cut expenses, it gives them a reason to say their Chamber membership is much too valuable to cut! We truly appreciate how easy this was for us.
Jay Julian
President/CEO
Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance
Muncie, IN
www.muncie.com
What we love most about Glenn’s seminars is that they attract members we don’t see at ANY OTHER chamber events. I didn’t recognize half the people at his last seminar. And that’s a good thing, because it means we’re now reaching a segment of our membership through Glenn’s leadership training that networking events aren’t attractive to.
Barbara Ann Heegan
President/CEO
Livingston County Area Chamber of Commerce
Geneseo, NY
www.livingstoncountychamber.com
Please thank Glenn for putting on such an incredible program yesterday. He promised Jeff and me that he’d make us look like “heroes” to our chamber members, and that’s exactly what he did. All of my members that attended were raving about how great it was, and that makes the chamber look great. I was especially fascinated at how the attendees ranged from the Department of Corrections, to two Catholic nuns from the Sisters of St. Francis, to the Fire Chief, to all kinds of small business owners. Yet all of them shared the same management problems, and Glenn hit the nail on the head with each one. VERY well done!
Julie Metz
Executive Director
Shelby County Chamber of Commerce
Shelbyville, IN
www.shelbychamber.net
Just wanted you to know how thrilled we were with yesterday’s seminar. The excitement was so palpable that we could feel the electricity in the air, and that’s SO helpful to us because it keeps our chamber members engaged. Members from banks to doctors’ offices to the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association attended, and all said this is exactly the kind of program they want the chamber to do more of in the future. Thanks for everything!
Amy Thomas
Executive Director
Ripley County Chamber of Commerce
Versailles, IN
www.ripleycountychamber.org
I can’t begin to tell you how blown away we were with the results of this management seminar, on four levels:
1. This is a small community. To have 108 people attend a higher-level seminar like this was beyond our wildest expectations.
2. I only have one staff member. The fact that your staff did all the marketing was perfect for us. Speakers and training companies contact our chamber all the time, but yours is the ONLY one that does all the work, pays for everything, and shares revenue with the chamber. No wonder you’re the most popular speaker in chamber world.
3. The wide variety of attendees, including non-profits, government, manufacturing, and higher education sectors that don’t attend other chamber events. You were right when you said that comparing networking events to accredited classes on hard skills like management is like comparing apples and oranges. Your seminar showed that we had not done a good enough job of serving this need in our business community in the past.
4. Even more impressive was the feedback from the attendees. Here are a few examples:
“I think everyone in management should be required to attend this seminar.” -Ray Moore Chief of Police Greenwood Police Department Greenwood, MS
“This was the best seminar I’ve ever been to. Can’t wait to put these practices to use at work”. – Danny Weeks John-Richard Corporate Greenwood, MS
“Not just excellent for managers in the corporate world, but also beneficial for non-profits that work with volunteers. Thank you for communicating practical strategies to help me manage people and help reach not just organizational goals, but each individual’s potential”. – Terry Barnes North Greenwood Baptist Church Greenwood, MS
Tell any chamber exec who thinks this won’t work in their market that that they’re out of touch with what their business community needs. (Or have them email me and I’ll set them straight).
Beth Stevens
Executive Director
Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber
Greenwood, MS
www.greenwoodms.com
We kept receiving registrations, many of which were not chamber members and others that were members who had never been to any chamber function. From small businesses to the Chicago White Sox, we filled our room and a month later participants are still telling me how much they appreciated us bringing this seminar to town.
Dave Hinderliter, IOM, ACE
President/CEO
Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce
Homewood, IL
www.chicagosouthlandchamber.com
I’ve been in Chamber World for 9 years and heard tons of speakers. Glenn was the BEST!
Lena McArthur
President/CEO
West Calcasieu Association of Commerce
Sulpher, LA
www.westcal.org
We believe in using local businesses and supporting our members every way we can. But if you’re sincere about serving your business community, sometimes you have to bring in nationally certified programs from out of state. We did this with Stephen Covey’s “The Leader in Me” course and got phenomenal results. We also did it with Glenn Shepard’s “How to Supervise People & Lead a Team” course because our members were having to drive to Birmingham or Nashville to get their required continuing education credits. Because the Glenn Shepard program is accredited by SHRM and HRCI, our members were able to get their credits without leaving Decatur. This not only served our members, but also helps our chamber define itself as a real resource that solves real problems businesses deal with, and not as a non-profit known for pancakes and parades.
John Seymour
President/CEO
Decatur-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce
Decatur, AL
www.dcc.org
We’re not a huge chamber, but we believe our members deserve to have access to the same high-level training that those in larger markets near us like Albuquerque and Phoenix have. We brought in Disney Institute’s customer service program and it sold out. We also brought in Glenn Shepard’s management program and it also sold out. It drives me nuts to see chamber execs obsessed with doing everything on the cheap and under-valuing our benefits. When it comes to corporate training, what businesses want is what’s best – not what’s cheapest. If cheap was their top priority, they’d stay at home and watch YouTube videos all day long. The work we do matters when it brings value to our members. If you provide high enough quality training, people will come out in droves.
Bill Lee
President/CEO
Gallup-McKinley County Chamber of Commerce
Gallup, NM
www.thegallupchamber.com
People here really need the information this seminar provided, and they appreciated it.
Andy Mayer
President/CEO
Mt. Vernon Chamber of Commerce
Mt. Vernon, WA
www.mountvernonchamber.com